The weather the preceding week had been fabulous, sunny and warm.  Unfortunately as the Thursdaybefore the meet rolled around, the clouds rolled in and the temperature dropped. The weather forecast did not look promising. When Don and Karen Manning, Rick and Marti Bjorndahl and Carole and I started out on Thursday morning with our tops down we were hoping for the best and expecting the worst. Luck was with us. We made it thru the weekend with reasonable weather. The only rain the entire time occurred on Saturday night when we were all indoors at the banquet.

We had reserved a block of 30 rooms in the hotel and these were all taken 2 weeks before the event.

The first event was the Thursday pub night at the Old Settlers Pub. I had planned for about 20 people. Much to my surprise about 40 showed up. The Pub handled it well though and it was an entertainingtime. Friday was an afternoon spent at the Kilby Historic Farm at Harrison Mills. It was a billed as a lunch and an old settler’s museum.

Karen Manning did a great job of setting it up and it turned out to be a real hit. The lunch was exceptional.  The group of about 40 was kept entertained by a very large and very friendly turkey who followed us everywhere. The museum was in fact the Harrison Mills General store which closed in 1969.  Everything had been retained and the store stood as it did 100 years ago complete with groceries,tools and dry goods of the era. A tour guide explained in full what everything was and how things were done in the “olden days”.

The afternoon concluded with an old fashioned ice cream making demonstration and, of course, sampling.

Friday night was a “Meet and Greet” functional at the hotel. Karen Morrison had done an exceptional job of organizing the catering and the food was out of this world. Registration was held at that time and much to our surprise we ended up with 80 people.  We had originally thought we would have an attendance figure of around 50-60. The hotel was able to handle 82 people for dinner so we were pretty well up to max.

Saturday was spent doing drives and tours. Dan Pinkcston’s guided tour to the Othello Tunnels outside Hope was another hit. I have lived in the lower mainland all my life and never even knew that they existed.

Saturday night was the dinner and it was an outstanding success. Crowded but outstanding.

Sunday dawned cloudy but rapidly cleared and the drive home was done, for the main part, in warm sunshine.

A few breakdowns were repaired and no one required towing. That is no one in Harrison required towing. Tom and Skip Monaco ran into a rock on the roadway and rapidly drained their crank case.  Fortunately a AAA wrecker got them home pretty quickly.

In conclusion there are several people I would like to mention for their assistance and guidance in putting together a venture like this. First is Don Manning who oversaw it all and kept everyone on course. Every ship has to have a Captain and our Captain was Don. Karen Manning did a great job of organizing the Kilby Farm Experience. Dan Pinckston’s both guided and unguided tours were well done and well received. Andy Jones handled all of the registrations and made it look easy. Karen Morrison organized all of the catering arrangements and facilities. The number of compliments that we received on the food said it all. Karen made it look easy when in fact it was quite complicated. Susan White, Michelle Karatnyk, and Joyce Crawford handled the registration, financial and other affairs at the registration table on Friday. My wife Carole put together two wine baskets as ticket draw prizes at the banquet. Bob Corfield who was the original point man and who I went out to Harrison with months back to find a hotel for this venture.

To all of you, I must extend my sincere thanks and appreciation. Without you it wouldn’t have happened.

These meets are a lot of fun. They are an opportunity to meet old friends and make new ones and share your Healey experiences. This 2008 Harrison Northwest meet was no exception. Brian Drab

By Brian Drab